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Publication Details
AFRICAN RESEARCH NEXUS
SHINING A SPOTLIGHT ON AFRICAN RESEARCH
agricultural and biological sciences
An empirical evaluation of camera trap study design: How many, how long and when?
Methods in Ecology and Evolution, Volume 11, No. 6, Year 2020
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Description
Camera traps deployed in grids or stratified random designs are a well-established survey tool for wildlife but there has been little evaluation of study design parameters. We used an empirical subsampling approach involving 2,225 camera deployments run at 41 study areas around the world to evaluate three aspects of camera trap study design (number of sites, duration and season of sampling) and their influence on the estimation of three ecological metrics (species richness, occupancy and detection rate) for mammals. We found that 25–35 camera sites were needed for precise estimates of species richness, depending on scale of the study. The precision of species-level estimates of occupancy (ψ) was highly sensitive to occupancy level, with <20 camera sites needed for precise estimates of common (ψ > 0.75) species, but more than 150 camera sites likely needed for rare (ψ < 0.25) species. Species detection rates were more difficult to estimate precisely at the grid level due to spatial heterogeneity, presumably driven by unaccounted habitat variability factors within the study area. Running a camera at a site for 2 weeks was most efficient for detecting new species, but 3–4 weeks were needed for precise estimates of local detection rate, with no gains in precision observed after 1 month. Metrics for all mammal communities were sensitive to seasonality, with 37%–50% of the species at the sites we examined fluctuating significantly in their occupancy or detection rates over the year. This effect was more pronounced in temperate sites, where seasonally sensitive species varied in relative abundance by an average factor of 4–5, and some species were completely absent in one season due to hibernation or migration. We recommend the following guidelines to efficiently obtain precise estimates of species richness, occupancy and detection rates with camera trap arrays: run each camera for 3–5 weeks across 40–60 sites per array. We recommend comparisons of detection rates be model based and include local covariates to help account for small-scale variation. Furthermore, comparisons across study areas or times must account for seasonality, which could have strong impacts on mammal communities in both tropical and temperate sites. © 2020 North Carolina Department of Natural and Cultural Resources. Methods in Ecology and Evolution © 2020 The British Ecological Society.
Authors & Co-Authors
Kays, Roland
United States, Raleigh
North Carolina State Museum of Natural Sciences
United States, Raleigh
Nc State University
United States, Washington, D.c.
Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute
Beirne, Christopher
United States, Durham
Duke University
Boone, Hailey M.
United States, Raleigh
Nc State University
Bowler, Mark T.
United Kingdom, Ipswich
University of Suffolk
Cove, Michael V.
United States, Front Royal
Conservation and Research Center National Zoo
Espinosa, Santiago
Mexico, San Luis Potosí
Universidad Autónoma de San Luis Potosí
Ecuador, Quito
Pontificia Universidad Católica Del Ecuador
Gonçalves, André Luís Sousa
Brazil, Manaus
Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas da Amazonia
Jansen, Patrick A.
Netherlands, Wageningen
Wageningen University & Research
United States, Washington, D.c.
Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute
Kolowski, Joseph M.
United States, Front Royal
Conservation and Research Center National Zoo
Lima, Marcela Guimarães Moreira
Brazil, Belem
Universidade Federal do Pará
Millspaugh, Joshua J.
United States, Missoula
University of Montana
McShea, William Joseph
United States, Front Royal
Conservation and Research Center National Zoo
Pacifici, Krishna
United States, Raleigh
Nc State University
Rovero, Francesco
Italy, Trento
Museo Delle Scienze
Italy, Florence
Università Degli Studi Di Firenze
Santos, Fernanda Da Silva
Brazil, Belem
Museu Paraense Emilio Goeldi
Schuttler, Stephanie G.
United States, Raleigh
North Carolina State Museum of Natural Sciences
Sheil, Douglas
Norway, As
Norges Miljø- og Biovitenskapelige Universitet
Si, Xingfeng
China, Shanghai
East China Normal University
Snider, Matt H.
United States, Raleigh
Nc State University
Spironello, Wilson Roberto
Brazil, Manaus
Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas da Amazonia
Statistics
Citations: 107
Authors: 20
Affiliations: 21
Identifiers
Doi:
10.1111/2041-210X.13370
ISSN:
2041210X
Research Areas
Genetics And Genomics
Study Design
Cross Sectional Study
Study Approach
Quantitative